In a bid to curb illegal and harmful substandard products imported into the country, government on Friday destroyed products worth R13.2-million that were found to compromise the safety of consumers with defects that could not be corrected.

This was in addition to R40-million worth of fishery products already destroyed by the industry with permission from the National Regulator of Compulsory Specifications (NRCS).

Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies in a statement commended the tenacity and commitment shown by the NRCS who had the task of recalling all noncompliant products from the market and to apply sanctions and penalties to the importers, manufacturers, distributors and sellers of such noncompliant products.

He also urged importers to adhere to the prescribed rules and regulations and not to supply the market with unsafe, noncompliant goods.

During recent market surveillance activities undertaken by South African Revenue Services, South African Police Service, Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and Department of Transport, besides others, substandard products estimated at R134-million were identified, intercepted and confiscated, Davies pointed out.

The noncompliant products included hotplates, vacuum cleaners, cameras, safety helmets, brake pads, plastic carrier bags, steam irons, plugs, respirators, adaptors, compact florescent lamps, incandescent lamps for vehicles, cell phone chargers, paraffin stoves, Christmas lights, TV games, DVD players, extension cords, cigarette lighters, chemicals, swimming aids, body massagers, hair straighteners, table lamps, toilet paper, toothpaste and nail polish.

Davies explained that although the rate of compliance with industry was still a concern, the destruction of noncompliant products was evidence of increasing levels of compliance, including the increase of letter of authority applications submitted to the NRCS for processing, which had increased from a monthly average of between 500 and 700 applications in the past few years, to between 1 000 and 1 600 applications.

In a bid to even further mitigate the risks posed by noncompliant products, the NRCS adopted border or port of entry inspections and a risk-based approach to its enforcement activities.

In February 2014, the NRCS through the Department of Trade and Industry also published the regulation for energy efficiency and labelling of electrical appliances. The first phase of this, which started last month, saw a minimum standby power of 1 watt for all audiovisual and information technology equipment being set. The second phase, which would start in April, would require that certain products with high electricity use, such as refrigerators, electric ovens, stoves, washing machines and dish washers, be marked with an energy efficiency label, similar to the one used in the European market. 

The third phase, to start in December next year, will introduce labelling requirements for air conditioners used for domestic and light commercial application.

Further to this, the NRCS would later this financial year conduct a massive inspection raid to check the level of compliance of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) in the market to ensure that only energy efficient products were available in the South African market and, thus, contribute to energy saving initiatives and economic growth.

To date, about 432 000 units of CFLs and incandescent lamps were found in Durban and destroyed.